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Improving Mathematics: Surveying Students Attitudes

Our Action research has been progressing this year despite the many interruptions this year has provided. Online learning proved to be a challenge but has provided many learning opportunities for our learning community. I have become a data nerd this year and this seemed the perfect opportunity to dig a little deeper into understanding how data helps to understand my students. I recently asked my students to complete this data survey so that I can present the results to our staff in the next few weeks. Loading… The survey was one that I have adapted from Teacher's Pay Teachers. It had some good questions for students about their general attitudes to Mathematics. I added questions about how game-based learning and how they feel that games help them to learn Math concepts and develop their skills. The survey has helped to understand how my students feel about Mathematics and particularly using games in the classroom. I found it encouraging that most found that games had a beneficial

Remote Learning: What I have learned

Launching into Remote Learning was an abrupt and unexpected turn of events for all in education. The learning curve has been steep and quite challenging, requiring flexibility and adaptability to cope with the rapid pace of events as they have unfolded through the past weeks. Remote learning has meant that teachers have had to find new ways to connect with their students in a way that is virtual. The challenge is still to provide lessons that are engaging and providing quality learning, while the students are in their own homes. Students themselves are grappling with understanding this new context for learning. Parents are having to determine the best routines for their child's education. It has been a daunting situation for many. The platform that our school uses for Kindergarten to Year 4 is Seesaw. This platform is easy to use for younger students providing a range of tools that students can easily access. What I have learned through this has been to develop skills that w

Making Homework a positive experience: Homeworkopoly

Homework is an area that has often been a part of education that is often the hardest to get right. Many parents expect homework and insist that their child does it. There are other parents who believe in Homework but have no time to give to it, because of work commitments or other priorities. There is also a small minority of parents who feel that Homework should not be given at all. Even amongst educators, it can be a divisive topic. Our school has a homework policy, that while we give homework, it is not compulsory for it to be completed. It serves to support the learning happening in the classroom, but no pressure is applied to have it completed.  My belief is that homework serves the purpose of developing healthy study habits and supporting those families who want homework for the child. For some parents though, it can be a source of tension when a child struggles with a task.  How to make it a positive experience? I came across this idea a few years ago and

Launching Game-Based Learning

As a teacher, the challenge is how to make learning accessible, engaging and to make it memorable for our students. It is a quest for every teacher to consider the ways that our lessons will be structured to meet the needs of our students and make sure that it moves their learning forward. This year as part of our Professional Development at my school, we are engaged in an Action Research Inquiry Learning Plan. The Action research model uses the spirals of inquiry to determine the needs of our learners and researching further into one area of interest. John Spencer explains it very well in this video: What is Game-Based Learning?  The area that I have chosen will be centred around game-based learning. Game-based learning borrows ideas and principles of competition and engagement to real-life situations. While students play they engage in concepts and feedback that are designed with an educational endpoint ( Game-based Learning definition, Annie Pho and Amanda Dinscore 201